brashear



(.NoModel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

BILBRASHEAR.

FILTER.

No. 579,039. Patented Mar. 16, 1897.

lNl/E/VTUR v Eden, fl jrash'ear ATTORNEYS.

THE NORRIS vsfzis cc. PHom-umm wAsnmc-rou, 0. c,

terns EDON ARUEL BRASI-IEAR, OF WESTERN PORT, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OFATENT ONE'I-IALF TO CHARLES E. KARN, OF SAME PLACE.

FILTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,039, dated March16, 1897..

Application filed November 28, 1896. Serial No. 613,836. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDON ARUEL BRAsHE AR, of Western Port, in the countyof Allegany and State of Maryland, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Filters, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved filter to be usedeither for family purposes or for operations on a larger scale.

It belongs to that class of filters in which sand is employed as thefiltering medium and in which the sand may be agitated and .cleansedfrom time to time by the power of the water which is admitted to thefilter unsimilar view of the filter as adapted for large families,hotels, or for power-filtering on a larger scale, the parts of thefilter and the sand being shown in the positions which they occupy whenthe sand is being cleaned of its accumulated impurities. Fig. 3 is anenlarged detail showing means for working the central tubes in thelarger power-filters.

In the drawings, A represents the outer casing, of any suitable shapeand material. This will generally be constructed in the form of anordinary water-cooler with a cylindrical body and circular base, but thebottom of the filtering-chamber is conical and tapers downwardly to acentral inlet a. This communicates with the water service pipes of thehouse or with a force-pump or other source of water-supply underpressure through the pipe a a detachable plug a being inserted in thebend of the pipe a for the purpose of cleaning away sand or impuritieswhich may settle at this point in the inlet-pipe.

Centrally within the outer casing there is fixed the filtered-waterchamber B. This is of conical shape, and on top is provided with adetachable surmounting cylinder B, screwed thereto and having detachablecap 5 at the top, while the open lower end I) of the chamber B issustained in fixed position within the case by legs I) b. Centrallywithin this chamber B there are two concentric tubes O O, both of whichare Vertically adjustable, and which are also independently movable inrelation to each other. These tubes have flared and open lower ends 0and c, which are adapted to receive the unfiltered water or thecommingled water and sand in cleaning the filter, and the verticalmotion of these tubes causes their lower ends to act as a sand cut-offor compound valve with the bottom of the filtering-chamber, the outerand flared end 0 of tube O fitting, when in its lowest position, tightlyagainst the conical bottom of the filteringchamber and having points orspurs c to stir the sand.

The inner tube O at its upper end passes through the cylinder B and itscap 19 and opens through and is surmounted by a cap 0 and-on this aremounted legs C sustaining a deflector-disk G directly above the openupper end of the central tube O. This disk has on its under side aconical peak extending downwardly concentrically above the open end ofthe tube 0 for the purpose of uniformly deflecting the rising current ofwater into an outwardly-flowing sheet of water all around the tube, andsaid deflector-disk has also a milled knob or handle 0 by which it maybe lifted and also turned about its vertical axis. The inner tube 0slides vertically within the outer tube O and cylinder B, but rotateswith tube 0 through a connection formed bya headed pin 0 fixed to theinner tube and extending through a vertical slot in the outer tube, anda spring 0 on the inner tube bears against the outer tube and holds thetwo to whatever vertical adjustment is given them in relation to eachother. The

vertical adj ustment of the outer tube is effected by an externalscrew-thread 0 formed on its upper end, which screw-thread meshes withan internal screw-thread on the flange f on the top of thefiltered-water chamber B.

On a level with the upper part of the tube O and surrounding the samethere is a circular ring-shaped trough D, whose inner wall is inclinedand in whose outer edge, near the top and extending all the way aroundit, there is left an opening d on a level with the waterline, into whichthe scum and light impurities pass and are conducted away by the troughD and its discharge-pipe D in cleaning the sand.

The operation of this filter as thus described is as follows: The spacewithin the filter between the outer casing A and inner chamber B isfilled with sand of the requisite fineness nearly up to the trough D.The tubes 0 and C being now in their lowest positions, with their flaredlower, ends 0 and c resting on the bottom a unfiltered water underpressure is admitted through the inlet a. This water passes up throughthe tube 0 and striking the deflector-disk C at the top is directeddownward upon the body of quiescent sand S and percolating through itdownwardly deposits its impurities therein, and rising through the lowerend I) of the central chamber remains there in a clear and filteredc011- dition, either to be drawn off through pipe 19 extending to afaucet on the outside of the filter, 0r passes through another pipe 17Fig. 2, to a larger reservoir, as will be described hereinafter.

When the filter has become foul or clogged with deposited impurities,the cover of the outer case is removed and the knob C is pulled up andthen rotated. When the knob C is pulled up, the tube 0 rises within 0and is held to this adjustment by the spring 0 pressing against theouter tube, and when the inner tube and knob are rotated the pin 0causes the outer tube to turn also, and the screw-thread c at the upperend of the outer tube causes both the tubes to slowly rise in theconical chamber B and open a space between the sand-chamber andinnerside of tube 0, as shown in Fig. 2. The water now entering at aunder pressure gradually carries the sand up the central tube, and whenit strikes the deflector-disk C at the top it is again deposited in thesand-space on the top of the slowly-descending column of sand. Thiscontinues until all the sand has several times made a complete circuitand been thoroughly washed. As it undergoes this washing process, theimpurities, which are of a lighter character, rise as a scum to the topof the water in the sand-space, and overflowing through the opening (2into the watertrough D pass off through the same to the discharge-pipeD. As soon as the sand is thoroughly cleaned the tubes 0 and C areforced downwardly again and are-screwed to a tight bearing against thebottom a thus cutting off the sand from the central tube 0, and the sandthen becomes a quiescent and solid filtering-column again. The object inhaving the two tubes C C is to progressively and tightly close thissandvalve, the outer bell c of the outer tube serving to hold the sandback while the inner one o is finding a tight bearing against the bottoma so that if any particles of sand are caught between the outer bell cand the bottom a the continued inflow of water will keep clean thebearing-surface for the inner bell c and the latter can be forced downto a tight fit. The spurs 0 simply stir and distribute the sand as itpasses into the central tube.

lVhen filtering water on a larger scale, a larger reservoir, as A, forinstance, in Fig. 2, may be connected to the filter and water may bedrawn from the bottom of this reservoir through its outlet A and to anysuitable force-pump P, and thence be delivered to the inlet a of thefilter, while the purified water passes out through the pipe b into thereservoir A. In this way the contents of the reservoir may be repeatedlypassed through the filter. For hotel and family uses the reservoir ofthe filter may be provided with a hinged ice-pan A on the top.

7 hen the filters are made large and the operation of the tubes 0 and Ois awkward or attended with the exercise of considerable power, Iprovide a lever mechanism for working the tubes, as shown in Fig. 3. Inthis case the two tubes 0 and C have a slip connection through a coiledspring 15, which permits one tube to move first and the other to follow.Both tubes are lifted and operated directly by a lever G which isfulcrumed to a stationary standard f, and at the other end is providedwith a notched locking-bar C A supplemental lever E is fulcrumed at c tothe lever 0 and its outer end is attached to a vertically-adjustabledeflector c, which is arranged beneath the disk C and may be raised orlowered to turn the currents outwardly sooner or later. This lever E isfixed in its adjustments by a notched locking-bar 6 Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. A sand-filter having a central inlet at its bottom, and a centralfiltered-water chamber opening at its bottom into the sand-space aroundit, and a vertically-adjustable concentric tube arranged when in itslowest position to cut oif the sand and admit only water through it, andwhen raised serving to admit both water and sand to the interior of saidtube substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A sand-filter having a central inlet at its bottom, and a centralfiltered-water chamber IIO opening at its bottom into the sand-spacesame and having an opening to receive the overflow of the scum and lightimpurities substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. A sand-filter comprising a case having a central inlet at its bottom,a central filteredwater chamber opening at its bottom into thesand-space around it, two vertically-adjustable concentric tubes formingat their lower ends a compound valve or progressive cut-oli? for thesand, and means for giving a successive adjustment to said tubessubstantially as shown and described.

5. A sand-filter comprising a case having a central inlet at its bottom,a central filteredwater chamber opening at its bottom into thesand-space around it, a central tube for the upward passage-way of waterand sand, and a ring-shaped discharge-trough for impurities arrangedabout the upper end thereof substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

6. The combination in a sand-filter of the outer case having conicalbottom a and inlet a of the concentric tubes C C having bellshaped orflared lower ends 0 c said tubes be ing made vertically adjustablesubstantially as and for the purpose described.

7. The combination in a sand-filter, of the outer case having conicalbottom with a central inlet, and a vertically-adjustable tube forming awater passage-Way and a sand cutoff substantially as described.

8. The combination in a sand-filter, of the outer case having a conicalbottom with a central inlet, a horizontal inlet-pipe a with a detachableplug a in its end, and a central and vertically-adjustable tube forminga water passage-way and a sand cut-oi'if substantially ED ON ARUELBRASHEAR.

Witnesses:

R. H. WHITWoRTH, J. B. SHUPE.

